BIDDEFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT Hazard Assessment

BIDDEFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT Hazard Assessment

2018

Serving with Pride and Professionalism Since 1855

“Always Ready, Always There”

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COMMAND STAFF Scott Gagne, Fire Chief Paul LaBrecque, Assistant Chief Kevin Duross, Deputy Chief Mike McDonald, Division Chief John Hennedy, District Chief

PREPARED BY Scott Gagne, Fire Chief

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Executive Summary ...... 4 Departmental Improvements and Anticipated Growth of the Community Risk Assessment Methodology ...... 5 Resource Management ...... 6 Evaluating Community Risk ...... 9 Evaluating Fire Suppression Capabilities ...... 9 The Stages of Fire Growth ...... 10 The Significance of Flashover ...... 13 Impact of Residential Fire Sprinklers ...... 13 Evaluating EMS Capabilities ...... 15 Comparing Fire Suppression and EMS Capabilities ...... 18 Method to Define Building Risk ...... 19 Risk Categories ...... 20 The Cascade of Events ...... 26 Industry Standards on Measuring Performance ...... 28 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1710 ...... 33 Special Operations ...... 36 Characteristics of the City of Biddeford ...... 38 Critical Task Analysis ...... 39 Response Reliability ...... 41 EMS/Fire 2018 Emergency Incidents ...... 42 Apparatus Response by Call Reason ...... 44 Structure Fire Response Run Card ...... 45 Mass Casualty Response Run Card ...... 48 Response Time Discussion ...... 49 2018 Emergency Incident Response Times (Map) ...... 50 2018 Emergency Incident Response Times with possible Station at UNE ...... 51

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Executive Summary One of the issues the fire service has historically faced is how to adequately define the levels of service for the community it protects. As part of the NFPA standards, a hazard assessment document must be developed and adopted by the agency having jurisdiction. As the Biddeford Fire Department proceeded to establish its service level goals, it did so based on nationally recognized standards and best practices such as: The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, the American Heart Association guidelines, and the Insurance Services Office – Fire Suppression Rating Schedule.

The purpose of this document is to provide elected officials, cooperating agencies, Department members and, most importantly, residents an overview of the assets at risk (people, possessions, homes, businesses, cultural assets, environment, etc.), and the methods the Biddeford Fire Department will employ to protect those assets. While the hazard assessment provides an overview of risk assessment, deployment of resources and an analysis of current performance, the strategic plan outlines the resources needed to address the current service demands, departmental improvements, and anticipated changes within the community.

The hazard assessment document analysis identifies three primary performance measures in terms of deployment and emergency response:

Response Goal: First Unit Total Response Time - Fire = 6 Minutes at 90 Percent

Response Goal: First Unit Total Response Time - EMS = 6 Minutes at 90 Percent

Response Goal: Effective Response Force - Fire = 10 Minutes at 90 Percent

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The data presented in this document has come from IMC dispatch CAD system and the IMC NFRIS fire reporting system. Understand that there may be variations in the information based on limitation of the software and margins for human data entry errors.

DEPARTMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS AND ANTICIPATED GROWTH OF THE COMMUNITY RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY

The City must assess risks based upon the potential frequency (probability of an incident occurring) and consequence (potential damage should an event occur). For example, a terrorist act has a low probability; however, if a terrorist act occurs, the damage and the psychological impact are potentially very high. This same outlook regarding risk assessment can also be applied to natural disasters. For example, an earthquake generally does not hit the same communities every year; but if it does strike, the damage can be great. Conversely, medical emergencies happen every day. The overall potential damage from medical emergencies to the community as a whole is not nearly as significant as that from an earthquake or other natural disaster (though these individual incidents greatly affect those requiring the service). To design future deployment strategies, the Department must be able to compare the potential frequency and potential damage of events that may affect the community and service area.

Risk assessment is the analysis of the chance of an event occurring and the resulting damage that could occur as a result of the event. Risk management is the practice of committing sufficient resources to address the hazards in the most effective and efficient manner available.

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For example: structure fires are relatively infrequent in comparison to medical incidents; however, the loss of life, loss of irreplaceable items, and loss of business or jobs make the consequences of such fires high and an impact to the community at large, not just the affected structure. Therefore, the fire department must respond to each with a different set of resources to ensure the proper amount of staffing is brought to bear (i.e. an emergency medical call will usually get one crew while a structure fire will get multiple crews and possibly even help from neighboring fire agencies). With an understanding of the different levels of probability and consequences, proper strategic planning in respect to risk management and resource deployment can take place.

The challenge in community risk management then progresses from the quantifiable work necessary to assess the probable emergency events in a community to the policymakers, who will determine the level of service to be delivered to the areas being served.

The relationships between probability and consequence and the community’s adopted service level goals determine the needed concentration and distribution of resources. Distribution is the number of resources placed throughout the city. Currently, this can be best described as deploying resources sufficient to provide a 4-minute travel time to all residents. Concentration is the number of resources needed in a given area within the city depending on many factors including the number of events (calls for service), the risk factors of the area, the availability, reliability, and time of arrival of secondary responding units, etc. An example could be the need for multiple fire companies responding out of the same station for areas that are within the 4-minute travel distance but have more demand for service than just one fire company can address. The challenge is to fund and deploy the proper balance or fire companies to first address the distribution, and then the concentration, of resources to meet the service demands today as well as in the future as the city and service areas continue to grow.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

A critical element in the assessment of any emergency service delivery system is the ability to provide adequate resources for anticipated fire combat situations, medical emergencies, and other anticipated events. Each emergency requires a variable amount of staffing and resources to be effective. Properly trained and equipped fire companies must be notified, respond, arrive, and deployed at the event within specific timeframes and in proper numbers to mitigate the event.

The objective is to have a distribution of resources that is able to reach a majority of events in the timeframe as stated in the service level goals. There are many factors that make up the risk level, which would indicate the need for higher concentration of resources.

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Risk Level Factors

• Inability of occupants to take self-preserving actions • Construction features • Lack of built-in fire protection • Hazardous structures • Lack of needed fire flow • Nature of the occupancy or its contents, etc.

Evaluation of such factors lead to the number of personnel needed to conduct the critical tasks necessary to contain the event in an acceptable timeframe. The level of service provided by an agency should be based on the agency’s ability to cope with various types and sizes of emergencies that the agency can reasonably expect after conducting a risk assessment. This process starts with examining the most common community risk, the potential fire problem, target hazards, critical infrastructure, and an analysis of historic call data. Community risk assessment incorporates the various elements of risk among the community as a whole, the frequency of events that occur, the severity of potential losses, and the distribution of those risks. Overall, the city and its service areas are likely to have a wide range of potential risks; and, yes, there will be an inverse relationship between risk and frequency. The daily event is usually the routine that results in minimal losses, while significant events are less frequent. Toward the highest risk levels on the chart, the events are less frequent. If the risk management system is working in the community, a catastrophic loss should be an extraordinary event.

The objective of a risk assessment is to reduce the truly serious loss to a very unusual event for the area served and involves trying to keep routine emergencies from becoming serious loss situations. This is accomplished only when a Standard of Cover has been developed, that provides the necessary resources for those risks identified within the city and the other service areas.

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Community Risk Assessment Model

Potential Loss Low High

Extraordinary Event Total Destruction

Rare Event Major Destruction

Annual Event Significant Loss Concentration of Resources Monthly Event Minor Loss

Weekly Event Insignificant Loss Consequences Distribution

Frequency of Events (Location) of Daily Event Those Resources

Hourly Event

High Low

The purpose of risk assessment is not only to evaluate risks and hazards in the fire department’s response area but also to provide a basic methodology to evaluate existing response coverage. The process begins with the identification of community hazards and risks. Hazard is defined as a source of potential danger or an adverse condition; risk is defined as the possibility of loss or injury; the exposure to the chance of loss; the probability of an event multiplied by the significance of the consequence (impact) of the event = Risk (Risk = Probability x Impact).

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EVALUATING COMMUNITY RISK

The City of Biddeford consists of a variety of risks the department is routinely called upon to respond to. The service area encompasses over 32 square miles, not including areas served through automatic and mutual aid. These areas include both a structural and non-structural risk in this evaluation. Non-structural risks include emergency medical, hazardous materials, technical rescue, water rescue, wildland/urban interface, and disasters. Structural risks evaluated included all structures within the service area, major highways and roadways that transverse the area, water, power, communications and other critical infrastructure, as well as items of historical and cultural significance. In order to determine the extent of various risk factors, the Department analyzed the demographics in the area protected, the building stock, historical call volume, and the existing deployment of resources.

EVALUATING FIRE SUPPRESSION CAPABILITIES Firefighters encounter a wide variety of conditions at each fire. Some fires will be at an early stage and others may have already spread throughout the building. This variation in conditions complicates attempts to compare fire department capability. A common reference point must be used so that the comparisons are made under equal conditions. In the area of fire suppression, service-level objectives are intended to prevent the flashover point, a particular point of a fire's growth that makes a significant shift in its threat to life and property. Fire suppression tasks required at a typical fire scene can vary a great deal. What fire companies must do, simultaneously and quickly if they are to save lives and limit property damage, is to arrive within a short period of time with adequate resources to do the job. Matching the arrival of resources within a specific time period is the objective of developing a comprehensive Hazard Assessment.

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The Stages of Fire Growth Virtually all structure fires progress through a series of identifiable stages.

Stage 1: The Ignition Stage—The ignition of a fuel source takes place. Ignition may be caused by any number of factors, from natural occurrences such as lightning to premeditated arson.

Stage 2: The Flame Stage—The fuel initially ignited is consumed. If the fire is not terminated in this stage, the fire will progress to the smoldering stage or go directly to flashover.

Stage 3: The Smoldering Stage—The fuel continues to heat until enough heat is generated for actual flames to become visible. It is during this stage that large volumes of smoke and toxic gases are produced, and the stage where most fire deaths occur. Temperatures rise throughout this stage to over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit in confined spaces, creating the hazard of "backdraft" or smoke explosion. This stage can vary in time from a few minutes to several hours. When sufficient oxygen is present, the fire will progress to the free-burning phase.

Stage 4: Free Burning or "Flashover" Stage—The fire becomes free burning and continues to burn until the fire has consumed all contents of the room of fire origin, including furnishings, wall and floor coverings, and other combustible contents. Research into the flashover phenomenon has not yet yielded criteria that precisely measure when flashover occurs; however, any exact scientific measurement in the field is extremely difficult. Observable events that would indicate a flashover are "total room involvement" and "free burning." These indicators are easily observable by firefighting personnel and the public, and can be easily recorded and retrieved for future evaluation. Both scientific tests and field observations have shown when flashover is experienced, fire growth is exponential and can quickly overwhelm firefighting resources.

a. Flashover occurs at a temperature between 1,000 and 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. These temperatures are well above the ignition points of all common combustibles in residences,

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businesses, and industries. When this temperature range is reached, all combustibles are immediately ignited. Human survival after this point is highly improbable without specialized protective equipment.

b. At the point of flashover, lethal fire gases (carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, cyanide) increase explosively. People exposed to these gases, even when not directly exposed to the fire, have drastically reduced chances of survival.

c. Flashover can occur within a relatively short period of time. Precisely controlled scientific tests indicate that flashover can occur in as little as two minutes from the flame stage. On the other hand, field observations of actual fires indicate that total room involvement can take as long as 20 minutes or more. There is no way to ascertain the time to flashover since it is not possible to determine when a fire started. Nevertheless, a correlation can be drawn between the importance of rapid intervention in the prevention of flashover.

As suggested previously, the number of times that fires are controlled before flashover depends on the entire fire protection system and is not solely dependent on emergency response forces. Built-in fire protection, public education, extinguishment by citizens, and even the type of fuel on fire are all factors that affect flashover.

Even when fires are not extinguished by firefighting forces, these personnel often provide other services, ranging from smoke removal to the restoration of built-in fire control systems. The objective is all components of the fire protection system, from public education to built-in fire protection to manual fire suppression, are maintained at a level to provide adequate service and the performance of each is periodically evaluated.

Flashover is a critical stage of fire growth, as it creates a quantum jump in the rate of combustion and a significantly greater amount of water is needed to reduce the burning material below its ignition temperature. A fire that has reached flashover

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often indicates it is too late to save anyone in the room of origin, and a greater number of firefighters are required to handle the larger hose streams needed to extinguish the fire. A post-flashover fire burns hotter and moves faster, compounding the search-and-rescue problems in the remainder of the structure and, at the same time, more firefighters are needed for fire combat operations.

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The Significance of Flashover

Pre-Flashover = 0 to 6 minutes Post-Flashover = 6 to 10 minutes Limited to one room May spread beyond one room Requires smaller attack line Requires larger, more attack lines Rescue of trapped occupants Trapped occupants not likely to survive more likely Less firefighters are needed More firefighters are needed Structure and possessions more Structure and possessions damaged beyond likely to be salvaged repair

Staffing and equipment needs can be reasonably predicted for different risk levels and fire stages. The correlation of staffing and equipment needs with fires according to their stage of growth is the basis for response coverage. The goal is to maintain and strategically locate enough firefighters and equipment so an effective response force can reach a reasonable number of fire scenes before flashover and intercede in critical medical emergencies. Best practice of strategically locating fire stations is to cover all areas of the city within a 4-minute travel time.

IMPACT OF RESIDENTIAL FIRE SPRINKLERS / OUT OF WATER HYDRANT AREA WATER TANKS

There are also some assumptions made by the general public, media, elected officials, etc., that are incorrect and it will be important for the Department to continue to provide ongoing

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public information to keep the public informed on the facts. Biddeford does not currently have a required residential sprinkler, but we do encourage the installation of these systems, especially in areas of the city that do not have fire hydrants.

• Installing both smoke alarms and a fire sprinkler system reduces the risk of fire death by 82%. • Sprinkler systems are designed to keep fire contained long enough to allow occupants to exit, not fully extinguish the fire. A fire department response is still needed. • Sprinkler systems allow quicker control and extinguishment by the fire department, and less time committed for overhaul. • Over time, sprinkler systems will lower property loss ($) due to fire, which will have a positive effect on residential fire insurance premiums citywide.

• Sprinkler systems do not control fires originating outside the home. • Sprinkler systems do not lessen the need for fire stations (distribution), but will lessen the need for multiple units responding from the same stations (concentration). • Sprinkler systems will lessen the commitment time for fire control and overhaul activities, thus improving the availability of fire units for other calls for service.

Water supply in critical to fire extinguishment. Much of the city is supplied by fire hydrants, but many areas such as outer Guinea Road, outer West Street, outer Pool Street, outer South Street and Mountain Road do not have hydrants and water must be shuttled in. In these cases, water must be obtained from a distant hydrant, from one of our underground holding tanks, or a natural water source. These methods are time consuming and require a large amount of resources.

Fires that are located in these districts are very challenging to extinguish and often lead to increased property loss. Currently we have six underground holding tanks that do not offer effective water supply to these areas in the city that do not have hydrants.

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EVALUATING EMS CAPABILITIES

Similar to preventing flashover in a fire, survival from a cardiac emergency is time driven. The brain can only be without oxygen for a short period of time (four to six minutes) before irreparable cell damage begins to occur. Rapid intervention is necessary to prevent brain death from occurring.

From an emergency medical perspective, the service-level objective typically is to provide medical intervention within a six-minute timeframe, as brain damage is very likely at six minutes without oxygen. However, in a cardiac arrest situation, survivability dramatically decreases beyond four minutes without appropriate intervention. Intervention includes early recognition and bystander CPR. The medical industry recommends using the Utstein reporting criteria to capture the following time stamps/points in the cascade of events in an EMS call, which fortunately match many of the same time stamps used in tracking the cascade of events for fire calls.

Early defibrillation is often called the critical link in the chain of survival because it is the only way to successfully treat most sudden cardiac arrests. When cardiac arrest occurs, the heart starts to beat chaotically (fibrillation) and cannot pump blood efficiently.

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Collapse/Recognition Early First CPR-Bystanders Access Dispatch Call Receipt

Vehicle Moving CPR Arrest

Early CPR Vehicle Stops Witnessed Personnel at Patient’s Side

First CPR-EMS Personnel Early First Defibrillator Shock Defibrillation RCS Circulation

Intubation Achieved

Return of Spontaneous Ventilation IV Access Achieved Early ACLS Medications Administered Departure from Scene

Arrival at EM Department Recommended core time to record

Supplemental times to record if possible

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A sudden cardiac arrest victim who is not defibrillated within eight to ten minutes has virtually no chance of survival.

The shortest possible response times create the highest probabilities of resuscitation. An important evaluation point lost on most agencies is the time crews reach the patient’s side. Often the clock stops when the vehicle arrives or stops at the address. The key to a successful outcome is the point the patient is actually contacted. Consideration of actual patient contact must be made when evaluating total response time for EMS calls; this time period can be substantial and can most certainly affect the outcome due to delayed intervention. The following graph illustrates the importance of not just rapid response, but rapid response coupled with properly trained employees.

COMPARING FIRE SUPPRESSION AND EMS CAPABILITIES

As we can see from the figures below, arrival within 6 to 7 minutes of both types of emergencies is critical in terms of survivability.

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Comparing Fire Suppression and EMS Capabilities

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METHOD TO DEFINE BUILDING RISK

The response area for the fire department is identified as a station district. These districts are a collection of the multiple-fire demand zones which are mapped. When a request for service is received through the 911 system, the Communication Center (Fire Alarm) verifies the call location and uses the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system to identify the required resources to send. The CAD system takes into consideration the type of occupancy and associated risk. Once the call type has been identified, the correct type of predetermined response is dispatched. For example, a fire in an open field or perhaps a detached outbuilding (low-risk occupancy) will receive one engine, with three firefighters. An apartment building (high-risk occupancy) will receive two engines, one truck and a chief, and an ambulance for a total of 8 firefighters plus automatic aid apparatus and call firefighters. This utility allows the dispatcher to dispatch a predetermined fire alarm assignment quickly to the emergency.

The Department has identified risk hazards for each type of occupancy within the City of Biddeford. All emergency response units are outfitted with mobile data computers (MDC) which contain computer-aided dispatch premise information for identified occupancies. Premise information might also include Pre-Fire Plans for risks that pose a high life hazard, high property loss, conflagration hazard, contain hazardous materials or have frequent fire occurrence. Risks are divided into the following three classifications defined below:

• High/Special-Risk Occupancies • Moderate-Risk Occupancies • Low-Risk Occupancies

High/Special-Risk Occupancies: Schools, apartments, hospitals, nursing homes, low- rise buildings, commercial structures, mill buildings, structures on Main Street downtown, large apartment buildings, dwellings in water deficient areas, and other high-life hazard or large fire potential occupancies.

Moderate-Risk Occupancies: One-, two- or three family dwellings, small commercial and industrial occupancies, outbuilding in proximity to other structures. Approximately 80% of the occupancies within the City of Biddeford fall into the Moderate-Risk category.

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Low-Risk Occupancies: Small outbuildings, park restrooms, sheds, very small drive by/thru service structures. Fires in these structures are usually handled by a single fire company.

82 percent of all fire deaths occur in residential dwellings. Even though major property loss is usually low, the potential for life loss is high. (Civilian Fire Injuries in Residential Buildings 2009- – USFA Topical Fire Report March 2013)

EMS Risk Categories

In order to accurately assess EMS risk, Biddeford Fire applied a multi-layered assessment matrix placing facilities into one of four (4) categories:

1. Low – Typically small single-story residential structures functioning as residential adult or group homes whose residents are mobile and do not require specialized on-site nursing or care. Many are listed with a maximum occupancy of six or less

2. Moderate – These risks involve single or multi-story facilities functioning as residential adult or group home situations where occupants are ambulatory but may require specialized nursing or care staff on site. Many are listed with a maximum occupancy of six or less

3. Significant – For a facility to be of significant EMS risk, the population is primarily non-ambulatory and requires 24-hour specialized care. Most of these facilities are moderately sized homes and may have seven or more residents. Occupants are typically older adults with varying medical needs and/or are in hospice situations

4. High - For an area to be classified as high risk, it is of substantial size and contains a heavy concentration of occupants presenting a high risk of life loss. While these structures contain built-in fire protection features, many occupants are not capable of self-preservation.

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Hazardous Materials Response Risk Categories:

HazMat Risk Categories Hazmat facilities can be placed into four categories.

1. Low – Facilities that may conditionally be exempt with small quantity generators, or small hazardous materials generators. Examples of these facilities include: a. Small privately owned auto-repair shops b. Auto-Body shops c. Grading and paving companies

2. Moderate – Facilities with certified plans for motor vehicle fuels, oils and propane or facilities certified as medium hazardous materials handlers. Examples of these facilities include: a. Gas stations b. Refrigeration companies c. Concrete companies d. City-owned well sites responsible for municipal water treatment

3. Significant – For a facility to be of significant HazMat risk, the facility is rated as a large quantity generator or a large hazardous materials handler. Examples of these facilities include: a. Large corporate owned auto/body repair shops b. City-owned surface water treatment plant facility c. Hospitals

4. High - For a facility to be classified as high risk, it is certified as an Extremely Hazardous Substance Materials Handler. Examples of these facilities include: a. Large retail outlets with high concentrations of fertilizer, pool treatment chemicals or automotive fluids (i.e. Costco, Home Depot or Lowe’s) b. Agricultural packing houses c. Large Manufacturers d. Metal treatment / Plating

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Evaluating Natural Risks

These risks frequently increase the need to coordinate the agency’s ability to effectively evaluate, respond, mitigate, and recover from a hazardous materials spill or release. Regional coordination of response assets is essential to efficiently manage the use of Hazardous Materials Teams and equipment in the region and to supply decontamination team response. In addition, the Biddeford Fire Department regularly coordinates inspection and response activities with York County EMA to ensure appropriate containment and response plans are implemented to mitigate hazardous materials releases.

The City of Biddeford Fire Department has identified the list of hazards that affect our jurisdiction and create the need for preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.

Frequency Potential Spatial Hazard of Significance Extent Magnitude Occurrence Agricultural Hazards Likely Limited Limited Low Avalanche N/A N/A N/A N/A Dam Failure Unlikely Extensive Critical High Drought Occasional Extensive Critical High Earthquake Occasional Extensive Critical Medium Flood Occasional Significant Critical High Landslide N/A N/A N/A N/A Severe Weather: Extreme Cold/Freeze/Heat Highly Likely Extensive Limited Medium

Extensive Critical High Hurricane Likely Highly Extensive Negligible Low Fog Likely Snow Likely Extensive Limited High Tornado Unlikely Limited Critical Low

Highly Heavy Extensive Limited Medium Likely Rain/Thunderstorm/Hail/Lightning/Wind Soil Hazards: Erosion Occasional Limited Negligible Low Expansive Soils Occasional Limited Negligible Low Land Subsidence Occasional Extensive Negligible Low Volcano N/A N/A N/A N/A Wildfire Occasional Limited Limited Low

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Guidelines for Natural Risk Rankings Vulnerability is measured in general, qualitative terms, and is a summary of the potential impact based on past occurrences, spatial extent, and damage and casualty potential:

Frequency of Occurrence: 1. Highly Likely: Near 100% probability in next year. 2. Likely: Between 10 and 100% probability in next year or at least one chance in ten years. 3. Occasional: Between 1 and 10% probability in next year or at least one chance in next 100 years. 4. Unlikely: Less than 1% probability in next 100 years.

Spatial Extent: 1. Limited - Less than 10% of planning area 2. Significant - 10-50% of planning area 3. Extensive - 50-100% of area

Potential Magnitude: 1. Catastrophic - More than 50% of area affected 2. Critical - 25 to 50% 3. Limited - 10 to 25% 4. Negligible - Less than 10%

Significance: 1. Low - Minimal potential impact. The occurrence and potential cost of damage to life and property is minimal. 2. Medium - Moderate potential impact. This ranking carries a moderate threat level to the general population and/or built environment. Here the potential damage is more isolated and less costly than a more widespread disaster. 3. High - Widespread potential impact. This ranking carries a high threat to the general population and/or built environment. The potential for damage is widespread. Hazards in this category may have already occurred in the past.

Summary of Natural Disaster Risk: Geologic/Seismic The Biddeford area is subject to low seismic hazards compared to many other parts of the country. The primary seismic hazard is ground shaking produced by earthquakes generated on regional faults lying outside the vicinity.

Flooding Biddeford has many natural stream systems. Each of these systems is comprised of sub- streams, or creeks, that collect together to discharge to a centralized natural drainage channel. These stream systems collect storm runoff from the foothills and landscape across the city.

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These stream channels have limited flow capacity. Seasonally, flooding can be a serious problem in the Biddeford area when these channel capacities are exceeded.

Portions of the City of Biddeford including Rotary Park, Pine, Maple and South Street have areas that have been subject to historical flooding. Such flooding has been documented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Other areas of flooding are related to the ocean areas. The major inundation areas from potential overflows and splash over from the Ocean include Mile Stretch Road, Fortunes Rocks Road, Ocean Ave, and the Granite Point Road Areas.

Extreme Heat In a normal year, about 175 Americans succumb to the demands of summer heat. In the 40-year period from 1936 through 1975, nearly 20,000 people were killed in the United States by the effects of heat and solar radiation. In the disastrous heat wave of 1980, more than 1,250 people died. During the summer months in Biddeford, it is not uncommon to experience multiple consecutive days with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heat kills by taxing the human body beyond its ability to regulate temperature, resulting in heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Without immediate treatment, these conditions can result in death. During an extreme heat event human safety, agricultural crops, and livestock are impacted. The City will continue to provide cooling centers during heat events and provide transportation to the cooling centers. Cities pose special hazards during periods of extreme heat. Stagnant atmospheric conditions of a heat wave trap pollutants in urban areas and add the stresses of severe pollution to the already dangerous conditions of hot weather. Air conditioning can provide relief. However, many individuals and families choose not to use air conditioning due to rising energy costs, placing themselves at risk for heat related illnesses.

Extreme summer/heat has the greatest impact during the day from 12pm – 8pm. During the summer months, a greater percentage of the population is potentially exposed to this type of extreme weather due to schools being out of session, potential loss of cooling due to limited electrical capacity, the physiological impact extreme heat has on the body, and the regional specific conditions that negatively influence the air quality.

Drought Drought is a condition of climatic dryness that is severe enough to reduce soil moisture levels and water levels below the minimum necessary for sustaining plant, animal and human life systems. Drought is a gradual phenomenon. One dry year does not normally constitute a drought in Maine, but rather serves as a reminder of the need to plan for droughts.

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Extreme Cold/Freeze The severe cold or freezing temperatures exists annually. December through February have the greatest potential for extreme cold/freeze. In Biddeford, it is not uncommon to have consecutive days with a minimum overnight low temperature of 20 degrees.

Extreme freeze/cold occurs primarily during the late evening and early morning hours. During these periods, most people are indoors utilizing gas furnaces, fireplaces and blankets to regulate their temperature. Populations at greatest risk during extreme cold/freezes are homeless individuals who cannot find indoor shelter. Public Safety personnel continually monitored calls for service related to vulnerable populations such as the homeless and seniors who might have needed these services.

Essential Facilities and Infrastructure

A critical facility may be defined as one that is essential to providing utility or direction either during the response to an emergency or during the recovery operation.

The following are examples:

Essential Facilities High Potential Loss Facilities Transportation and Lifeline • Hospitals and other • Power plants • Highways, bridges, and medical facilities • Dams/levees tunnels • Police stations • Military installations • Railroads and facilities • Fire station • Hazardous material sites • Bus facilities • Emergency • Schools • Airports Operations Centers • Shelters • Water treatment facilities • City Administration • Day care centers • Natural gas facilities and • Federal Facilities • Nursing homes pipelines • County Facilities • Main government buildings • Oil facilities and pipelines • Communications facilities

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THE CASCADE OF EVENTS

In every emergency there is a sequence of events that are critical elements in respect to time and evaluation of the response system, known as the cascade of events and it occurs on every emergency call. Part of the risk assessment includes the evaluation of the department’s ability to respond to emergencies.

CASCADE OF EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH EMERGENCY OPERATIONS

Alarm Processing Time 90% in 60 Seconds 99% in 90 Seconds

Turnout Time EMS: 90% in 60 Seconds Fire Suppression: 90% in 80 Seconds

Travel Time 90% in 4 Minutes

On-Scene Time

Contact with Patient/ Begin Fireground Operations

Termination of Event

The response performance continuum is composed of the following:

Event Initiation Point— The point at which a human being or device (i.e., smoke alarm, infrared heat detector, etc.) becomes aware of the emergency.

Alarm Received and Transmitted—The point at which a call is received and answered at the 911 dispatch center (Fire Alarm)

Alarm Answering Time—The amount of time from the first ring at the Communications Center to when the call is answered by the dispatcher.

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Alarm Processing Time— amount of time from when an alarm is first answered at the Communications Center and categorized by call type, to when it is transmitted to the fire unit.

Turnout Time—The interval between the fire unit being alerted and the time when the responding crew is aboard the apparatus and the apparatus is enroute (wheels moving).

Travel Time—The point at which the responding apparatus signals the dispatch center that they are responding to the alarm and ends when the responding unit arrives on scene (via voice or mobile computer terminal notification).

On-Scene Time—The point at which the responding unit arrives on the scene of the emergency.

Initiation of Action—The point at which operations to mitigate the event begin. This may include size-up, investigation, resource deployment, and/or patient contact/ intervention.

Termination of Incident—The point at which the unit(s) has completed the assignment and is available to respond to another call for service.

Total Response Time—The time from the call being received at the 911 PSAP and the point at which crews arrive on scene and action is initiated.

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INDUSTRY STANDARDS ON MEASURING PERFORMANCE

INSURANCE SERVICE OFFICE (ISO) GRADING SCHEDULE For a broad spectrum of commercial and personal lines of insurance, ISO provides statistical, actuarial, underwriting, and claims information and analyses; consulting and technical services; policy language; information about specific locations and communities; fraud- identification tools; and data processing. In the United States and around the world, ISO serves insurers, reinsurers, agents, brokers, self-insurers, risk managers, insurance regulators, and other government agencies.

Since the middle of the 19th century, U.S. property insurance companies have funded initiatives aimed at loss prevention and fire mitigation. In the battle against fire losses, one of the industry’s tools is the Public Protection Classification (PPCTM) program administered by ISO. The PPC program evaluates a community’s public fire-protection capability and assigns a protection-class rating from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents exemplary fire protection; Class 10 means that the area's fire-suppression program does not meet ISO's minimum criteria.

The Fire Suppression Rating Schedule

In 1980, ISO introduced a new version of the schedule, now known as the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), as the basis for the PPC system. The FSRS assigns credit points to recognize a community's performance on measures related to fire suppression. The schedule objectively evaluates each item and uses the evaluations in a mathematical calculation of the amount of credit. Using the FSRS, ISO develops a PPC number for each community. The number represents the average class of fire protection for small to moderate-size buildings; the vast majority of all buildings in nearly all cities. The system compares the average available protection with the average protection needed for such buildings.

The following paragraphs explain the major items considered in a PPC evaluation:

Items 410-414: Telephone Service—The schedule gives credit for each telephone line provided for fire department emergency and business service, up to the number needed. The number of lines needed depends upon the number of calls received. The schedule also gives credit for fire department listings (both emergency and business numbers) in convenient and conspicuous locations in local telephone directories.

Items 420-422: Operators—The schedule gives credit for each fire alarm operator, up to the number needed. The number of operators needed depends upon the total number of calls and the method of operation.

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Items 430-432: Dispatch Circuits—Fire departments need adequate means for notifying personnel at the location of fires. The schedule gives credit for the availability and reliability of an alerting system to notify firefighters expected to respond.

Items 510-513: Engine Companies—The schedule gives credit for each in-service pumper, up to the number needed. The number of pumpers needed depends on building fire flows, response distances, and method of operation. The amount of credit for each engine company depends on the equipment the company carries.

Items 520-523: Reserve Pumpers— The schedule gives credit for pumpers in reserve.

Items 530-532: Pump Capacity—The schedule gives credit for pump capacity of in-service pumpers, reserve pumpers, and pumps on other apparatus, up to the needed pump capacity. The needed pump capacity depends upon the fifth-largest needed fire flow for the community, not to exceed 3,500 gallons per minute (gpm).

Items 540-549: Ladder and Service Companies—The schedule gives credit for each in-service ladder truck, up to the number of needed companies. The number of needed companies depends upon the height of buildings, the number of buildings with needed fire flows greater than 3,500 gpm, the response distances, and the method of operation. The schedule also gives credit for ladders, tools, and ladder-truck equipment normally carried on in-service apparatus for operations such as forcible entry, ventilation, salvage, and overhaul.

Items 550-553: Reserve Ladder and Service Trucks—The schedule gives credit for ladder trucks in reserve.

Items 560-561: Distribution of Companies—The schedule gives credit for the area of the city within satisfactory first-alarm response distance of engine and truck companies.

Items 570-571: Company Personnel—The schedule gives credit for the number of personnel responding to first alarms.

Items 580-581: Training—The schedule gives credit for facilities used to train individual firefighters and companies; training at fire stations; training of officers, drivers, and recruits; and pre-fire planning inspections.

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Items 610-616: Water Supply— The schedule gives credit for the available water supply at representative locations in the city. The water supply works, the water distribution system, or the spacing of fire hydrants may limit the adequacy of the water supply. For areas where fire hydrants are not available, the schedule includes criteria for recognizing alternative water supplies provided by fire departments. For a fire department to receive recognition for an alternative water supply, it must provide 250 gpm of uninterrupted fire flow for a minimum of two hours (30,000 gallons of water).

The schedule allows credit for suction points, such as rivers, canals, lakes, wells, and cisterns. To be recognized as a water source, such a suction point must have enough available water to satisfy the needed fire flow during freezing weather, floods, and a 50-year drought. (This is a drought with a two percent chance of happening in any one year.) There must be an all-weather access road, and the fire department must have permission to use the water.

Items 620-621: Hydrants—Size, Type, and Installation—The schedule gives credit for the number of satisfactory hydrants installed.

Items 630-631: Inspection and Condition of Hydrants—The schedule gives credit for the frequency and completeness of hydrant inspections and for the condition of the hydrants.

Items 700-701: Total Credit and Divergence—This item develops a community's PPC by summarizing the credits developed in the "Receiving and Handling Fire Alarms," "Fire Department," and "Water Supply" sections of the FSRS. An inadequate water supply can limit the effectiveness of a fine fire department, and a poorly equipped and trained fire department cannot effectively use a plentiful water supply. Therefore, a community's preliminary FSRS score is subject to modification by a divergence factor, which recognizes any disparity in the effectiveness of the fire department and the water supply.

Items 800-802: Class 8B— Class 8B is for communities providing superior fire-protection services and fire-alarm facilities but lacking the water supply required for a PPC of Class 8 or better. To be eligible for Class 8B, a community must meet the fundamental requirements for a classification better than Class 9. The community must have: • adequate number of well-organized and properly trained firefighters • reliable fire-alarm facilities 30

• reliable fire apparatus with proper equipment • adequate fire station facilities • operational records

However, instead of providing a minimum fire flow of 250 gpm for two hours, the fire department must deliver an uninterrupted fire flow of 200 gpm for 20 minutes beginning within five minutes of the first-arriving engine company. The department must be able to provide the minimum fire flow to at least 85 percent of the built-upon areas of the community and score well in the "Receiving and Handling Fire Alarms" and the "Fire Department" sections of the FSRS.

Items 810-812: Class 9—Class 9 is for fire departments that lack a water supply for fire suppression meeting minimum criteria (250 gpm for two hours) and that have minimal fire suppression apparatus and equipment.

Individual Property Fire Suppression

The FSRS provides separate rules for rating very large unsprinklered buildings that have a needed fire flow greater than 3,500 gpm. For such buildings, ISO determines the PPC by comparing the available protection with the protection needed for each building.

Items 1000-1003: Evaluation of Fire Department Companies—The schedule gives credit for each in-service engine and truck company, automatic-aid engine and ladder company, reserve pumper and ladder truck, and outside-aid engine and ladder company up to the number of needed engine and ladder companies. The number of needed companies depends upon the needed fire flow for the subject building.

Items 1100-1101: Water Supply System—The schedule gives credit for the available water supply for the subject building. The water supply works, the water distribution system, or the spacing of fire hydrants may limit the adequacy of the supply system.

Items 1200-1211: Classification for an Individual Property—This item develops a PPC for a specific building by considering the credit for fire department companies or the credit for water supply system, whichever is lower. The PPC for the subject building is the same for the city as a whole unless the PPC for the building is lower. In such cases, the poorer class (but not less than Class 9 if the city is Class 9 or better) applies to the subject building.

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Summary of ISO Schedule

All of these categories are processed through a formula that summarizes a city’s fire protection capabilities into a numerical Class.

Class Percentage Credited 1 90.00 or more 2 80.00 to 89.99 3 70.00 to 79.99 4 60.00 to 69.99 5 50.00 to 59.99 6 40.00 to 49.99 7 30.00 to 39.99 8 20.00 to 29.99 9 10.00 to 19.99 10 0 to 9.99

The City of Biddeford was last evaluated in 2012 and maintained a Class 2 / 8B rating. The City has experienced a steady improvement in its fire protection rating over the past 25 years.

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NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION (NFPA) 1710

Origin and Development of NFPA 1710

The development of this standard, first adopted in 2000 (revised in 2004 and 2010), was the result of a considerable amount of work over several years by the technical committee members appointed by NFPA representing several fire and governmental organizations. In the case of this standard, their work is the first organized approach to developing a standard, defining levels of service, deployment capabilities, and staffing levels for those "substantially" career fire departments. Research work and empirical studies in North America were used by the Committee as a basis for developing response times and resource capabilities for those services

being provided as identified by the fire service. NFPA 1710 provides the user with a template for developing an implementation plan in respect to the standard. The NFPA 1710 standard set forth, in concise terms, the recommended resource requirements for fires, emergencies, and other incidents.

EFFECTIVE RESPONSE FORCE

An effective response force is defined as the minimum amount of staffing and equipment specific to the type of emergency, able to arrive on scene within a targeted amount of time. It should be able to adequately handle anything from the typical emergency medical incident to the large commercial structure fire. Considering the fire department cannot hold fire or other risks to zero or successfully resuscitate every patient, its response objective should find a balance among effectiveness, efficiency, and reliability which will keep community risk at a reasonable level. At the same time, the department should yield the maximum life and property savings and provide for the safety of the responding firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and other first responders.

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The following is an example of an Effective Response Force (ERF) deployment to a 2,000 square-foot residential structure fire as outlined in NFPA 1710.

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There are three levels of the EMS provision recognized in the NFPA 1710 standard:

1. First responder with automatic external defibrillator (AED) 2. Basic life support (BLS) 3. Advanced life support (ALS)

The standard also recognizes EMS transport as a service that may be provided by the fire department. It is not a requirement that a fire department provide all levels of EMS service beyond first responder (AED). However, the standard establishes operational requirements for each level provided by a department. For each level, operational requirements are set forth as follows:

a) First Responder (AED)—A fire department must appropriately train all response personnel at the first responder with AED capability level and personnel must arrive within a four-minute travel timeframe for 90 percent of all emergency medical incidents. The number of personnel must be sufficient to assure adequate care capability and member safety.

b) BLS—A fire department providing BLS beyond the first responder level shall adhere to staffing and training requirements as set forth by the state or provincial licensing agency. The department must also deploy sufficient mobile resources to arrive within a four-minute travel timeframe for 90 percent of all incidents.

c) ALS—A fire department that provides ALS beyond the first responder and BLS levels shall adhere to staffing and training requirements as set forth by the state or provincial licensing agency. The department must also deploy sufficient mobile resources to arrive within an four-minute travel timeframe for 90 percent of all incidents.

The NFPA 1710 standard states that staffing and training requirements for both BLS and ALS transport units are to be determined by the state or provincial agency responsible for providing EMS licensing.

Ambulances in the Biddeford Fire Department are usually staffed by two ALS providers and are licensed to the advanced level, and permitted to the paramedic level.

All personnel hold an EMS license; fire apparatus carry ALS medical equipment.

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Special Operations

The community of Biddeford has many areas where technical rescue may be required. These range from a variety of public and private confined space locations that exist inside of many structures, to outside locations such as storm drains and municipal pump stations.

Additionally, there are also many locations that fall under high angle rescue. These include communication towers and work that may be conducted at elevated heights. The other area of concern in our community is water rescue. This can be in the river, ponds, or the ocean. It may be in slow or fast moving water.

To assist with handling these types of emergencies, all personnel are trained in these areas. To assist with the more technical emergencies, members from Biddeford, Saco, and Kennebunk Fire Departments make up a Tri-City Tech Rescue Team. These members are highly trained and skilled in many forms of technical rescue.

One challenge that we currently face is the inability to respond to water incidents in the ocean, on our islands or beaches. Saco and Scarborough respond to these incidents when needed, but we currently do not have a boat to respond outside of the mouth of the Saco River into the ocean when needed.

The fire department is required to formally define the types of special operations required or expected to be performed in an emergency or other incident. These types of special operations include, but are not limited to, hazardous materials response, confined-space response, technical rescue, high-angle rescue, and water rescue. Regardless of the fire department's defined special operation capability, all firefighters that provide emergency response must be trained to the first responder operations level for both hazardous materials and confined-space responses. Likewise, all fire departments must define their response capability to natural disasters, terrorism incidents, large-scale emergencies, and mass casualty events. When fire departments have established that they will provide response beyond first-responder level for hazardous materials or confined-space emergencies, they are required to ensure all members involved in this level of response be trained to the levels specified in the standard. The fire department must also determine the availability of resources outside the fire department through federal, state, or local assistance or private contractors who are deployed to emergencies and other incidents and the procedures for initiating such outside response. The fire department must also limit the level of response to special operation emergencies to the level for which it has staffed, trained, and equipped its personnel. Additionally, it must have the capacity to initiate a rapid intervention crew during any and all special operations responses.

The NFPA 1710 standard recognizes many, if not most, fire departments must respond to either wildland or wildland/urban interface fires. Accordingly, the fire department must address the service delivery for such occurrences. The standard specifies the minimum wildland staffing for defined wildland companies, as well as engine and truck companies that respond to wildland or urban interface/wildland emergencies. Likewise, deployment requirements for a wildland initial direct attack are specified.

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A system is a functionally-related group of components. These are areas where a set of needs or requirements work closely together and are interrelated to achieve a key result. The NFPA 1710 standard addresses five of these systems.

1. Safety and Health—Each organization must have an occupational safety and health program meeting the requirements of NFPA 1500, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program.

2. Incident Management—Each organization must have in place an incident management system designed to handle expected incidents. The system must be in accordance with NFPA 1561, Standard on Emergency Services Incident Management System.

3. Training— Each organization must ensure members are trained to execute all responsibilities consistent with its organizational statement. This training must be accomplished using a programmatic approach that includes a policy.

4. Communications—Each organization must have a communications system characterized by:

a. Reliability b. Promptness c. Standard operating procedures, terminology and protocols

Departments must also comply with all the requirements set forth in NFPA 1221, Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems.

5. Pre-Incident Planning—Safe and effective operations are grounded in identifying key and high hazard targets. The standard requires departments to develop operational requirements to obtain information regarding these locations.

Together these five systems help to ensure emergency responders have the essential tools, information, procedures, and safeguards to operate effectively and efficiently.

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FD Characteristics for The City of Biddeford

The Fire Department breaks up the city of Biddeford into 20 response districts. Each districts have a response run card that is built by call emergency call reason type.

Fire Districts 4, 5 and 18b do not have hydrants. Structure fires in these areas have automatic aid from the closest neighboring community respond on the initial call.

Districts 1,2,3, and 4 have Engine 22 from Station 2 (Biddeford Pool) respond automatic to all fire calls along with apparatus from Central Station.

Emergency Incident by Fire District

2018 Emergency Calls for Service total 5,395 Average Area Response

Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Coastal Areas) 374

Districts 5,5b, 18b are rural West districts with no fire hydrants 75

All other districts and mutual aid 4,946

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CRITICAL TASK ANALYSIS

The combination of property and life risk determines the fire ground tasks that must be accomplished in an emergency to minimize loss. These factors, although interrelated, can be separated into two basic types: fire flow and life safety. Fire flow tasks are related to getting water on the fire; life safety tasks are related to finding injured/ill persons and providing definitive emergency medical care, or finding trapped victims and removing them from the building. The required fire flow is based on a building’s:

Size Structural Material distance from other buildings horizontal and vertical openness (lack of partitions) contents type density potential energy (BTUs per pound)

Life-safety tasks are based upon the number of patients in an emergency medical incident or occupants in a fire situation: their location (e.g., a low rise versus high rise), their status (awake versus asleep), and their ability to take self-preservation action. For example, ambulatory adults need less assistance than non-ambulatory. The elderly and small children always require more assistance. The key to the fire department's success at an emergency incident is coordinated teamwork, regardless of whether the tasks are all fire- flow related or a combination of fire-flow, rescue and life safety. A fire in an occupied residential single- or multi-family structure requires a minimum of eight tasks to be simultaneously conducted in order to stop the loss of civilian lives, stop further property loss, and minimize the risks to the firefighter. The number and type of tasks needing simultaneous action will dictate the minimum number of firefighters needed at different types of emergencies. The following tables are examples of the tasks, which usually are performed simultaneously in fire responses to a single-family residential structure (High or Special Risk Occupancy) versus a fire in a small outbuilding (Low Risk). The tasks identified usually occur within the first 10 to 15 minutes of fire ground operations.

Utilizing a risk assessment of the existing structures in the City of Biddeford, and current staffing and apparatus capacities, the Biddeford Fire Department has developed time and performance expectations for the City as shown in Table A.

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Table A Number of Company Arrival in Travel Time Companies Minutes Required with Staffing Minimum of Three 1st 2nd 3rd / additional companies Risk Type Companies Arriving Arriving Arriving/mutual aid (Eng) (Aerial)

High/Special

500+ gpm Fire Flow in 5 - 8 4.00 4.00 4.00 6.5 8-12+ Water (Eng) Saco OOB/Scar Deficient Area Moderate 4.00 6.5 8-12+ 500 – 1500 gpm Fire Flow 4 – 5 4..00 4.00 (Eng) Saco OOB/Scar

Low/Remote 1 4.00 ------< 500 gpm Critical tasks are those tasks that must be conducted in a timely manner by firefighters at structure fires, medical emergencies, rescues, and hazardous materials incidents. In order to control a fire prior to flashover, revive a person in cardiac arrest, rescue a trapped person, or mitigate a hazardous situation, first responders must arrive within five minutes of dispatch. A fire department is responsible for assuring that responding companies are capable of performing all of the described tasks in a prompt and proficient manner. Table B shows the breakdown of critical tasks that need to occur at a typical single- family dwelling fire within the first 5 to 15 minutes after arriving companies:

Critical Tasks Necessary at a Moderate-Risk Structure Fire Table B Task Firefighters Company Attack Line 2 1st Fire Engine Pump Operator 1 1st Fire Engine Primary Search/Rescue 2 1st Aerial Water Supply/Sprinkler 1 2nd Fire Engine Rapid Intervention/Utilities 3 4th Fire Engine (OOB) Back Up Attack Line 2 3rd Fire Engine (Saco) Ventilation/Forced Entry 2 2nd Aerial ( Saco) EMS 2 Ambulance (GMills) Command 1 Duty Chief Total Minimum 16 Firefighters 6 Fire Apparatus

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RESPONSE RELIABILITY

Response reliability is defined as the probability that the required amount of staffing and apparatus will be available when a fire or emergency call is received. The response reliability of the fire department would be 100 percent if every piece of its apparatus were available every time an emergency call was received, there was no traffic, no bad weather, access was not obstructed, etc. In reality, there are times when a call is received for a particular company but the company is already on another call. This requires a substitute (second-due) company to be assigned that may be from another station. As the number of emergency calls per day increases, so does the probability that a needed piece of apparatus will already be busy when a call is received. Consequently, the response reliability of the fire department for that company decreases, which will have an impact on department travel times to emergencies. The size of the area that a station covers, the number of calls, the types of calls, and the population density all affect response reliability. The more densely populated, the more likely a second-due call will occur. An analysis of current response data can reveal variations in the response reliability among stations. The optimal way to track response reliability would be to analyze the total call volume for a particular fire management area and then track the number of double and triple calls to assess what the true response reliability is for that given area and the companies assigned to respond into the area.

Service level goals are established based upon federal and state legislation, such as 2- In/2-Out, federal and state OSHA requirements, ISO grading schedule, national standards such as the one developed by the NFPA and best practices. The service level goals identified for the city are based upon the events the fire department is called to respond to and the service provided by the fire department. These service goals are the benchmark of performance in respect to travel times, but do not measure other aspects of performance.

As the magnitude of emergencies range from small to catastrophic, the requirements for resources can vary greatly. A high-risk area could require a timely deployment of more fire companies for several reasons. More resources are required for the possible rescue of persons trapped within a high-risk building with a high-occupant load as compared to a low-risk building with a low-occupant load. More resources are required to control fires in large, heavily loaded structures than are needed for small buildings with limited contents. Therefore, creating a level of service consists of an analysis of the distribution and concentration of resources needed, in relation to the potential demand placed upon them by the level of community risk.

In order to assist with staffing during times of multiple calls our department has a firefighter call back policy. This means that when there are two or more pieces of apparatus that are not staffed, a firefighter call back is transmitted requesting two firefighters to respond to the station to staff apparatus. This process presents delays of up to 15 minutes with no coverage and many times there are no personnel that respond on these call backs.

In 2018 we transmitted 205 firefighter call backs, 112 of those were not filled. Additionally, a mutual aid apparatus responded to Biddeford over 300 times.

Station 2 (Biddeford Pool) is staffed by call force members only. In 2018 the engine at this

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station responded 11.3% of the times it was requested. It needed to be noted that the call personnel assigned to this station work during the day and are often not able to respond. Additionally, there may be times when personnel may live close to a call and respond without the apparatus.

Also under this reliability section it is important to note that our second ambulance is cross staffed by the two personnel that are assigned to the aerial. Often when the second ambulance is requested, the aerial is now unstaffed. In 2018 over 1,500 times we had more than one call at a time and over 900 times we had more than two calls at once. 43% of our calls require more than one piece of apparatus to respond.

Additionally, our brush truck that is used for woods and grass fires and our heavy rescue truck that carries extrication tools and specialty rescue equipment such as ice rescue gear and ropes rescue equipment is staffed by the one person that is assigned to our second engine. They respond on the requested piece of apparatus and the other apparatus that he/she is responsible for are often unstaffed during that time.

Emergency Incident Call Volume

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2018 Emergency Calls Breakdown

BFD FIRE IN OR ON A BUILDING 26 BFD PROVIDE MUTUAL/AUTOMATIC AID STRUCTURE FIRE 20 BFD FIRE CONFINED TO COOKING APPLIANCE 14 BFD CHIMNEY OR FLUE FIRE 1 BFD FUEL BURNER/BOILER MALFUNCTION, FIRE CONFINED 14 BFD TRASH OR RUBISH FIRE CONTAINED 3 BFD VEHICLE FIRE 9 BFD MULCH FIRE 12 BFD BRUSH/WOODS/GRASS FIRE 8 BFD DUMPSTER FIRE 2 BFD EMS CALL RESCUE ONLY NO TRANSPORT 524 BFD EMS CALL RES/ENG NO TRANSPORT 220 BFD EMS CALL RESCUE ONLY TRANSPORT TO HOSPITAL 1690 BFD EMS CALL RES/ENG TRANSPORT TO HOSPITAL 1085 BFD EMS TRANSPORT SMHC TO A MEDICAL FACILITY 321 BFD RECEIVE MUTUAL AID FOR EMS CALL 96 BFD PROVIDE MUTUAL AID FOR EMS CALL 72 BFD MVC W/OUT INJURY 95 BFD MVC W/ INJURY 91 BFD MVC W/ EXTRICATION 1 BFD ELEVATOR RESCUE 15 BFD SPECIALIZED RESCUE/ ABOVE/BELOW GRADE/CONFINED 3 BFD MARINE CALL 9 BFD WATER RESUE/ PERSONS IN THE WATER 7 BFD HAZARDOUS CONDITION (STRUCTUAL, SAFETY, OTHER) 4 BFD HAZMAT (MINOR) (GAS OR OIL SPILL) 17 BFD PROPANE/NG LEAK 4 BFD CARBON MONOXIDE 18 BFD CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM MALFUNCTION 23 BFD ELECTRICAL PROBLEM 18 BFD CABLE LINE DOWN 25 BFD TELEPHONE LINE DOWN 16 BFD WIRES ARCING 22 BFD TREE DOWN 3 BFD POWER LINE DOWN 5 TREE DOWN 3 Aircraft standby 1 BFD ATTEMPTED BURN ILLEGALLY BFD LOCK OUT VEHICLE OR STRUCTURE 18 BFD WATER PROBLEM 37 BFD INSIDE SMOKE OR ORDOR INVESTIGATION 42 BFD PUBLIC ASSIST 73 BFD ASSIST POLICE OR OTHER AGENCY 10 BFD PROVIDE MUTUAL AID NON STRUCTURE FIRE 31 Assist invalid 1 BFD UNPERMITTED BURN 18 PERMIT/CAMP FIRE INVESTIGATION 4 BFD STATION COVERAGE/STAND-BY 1 BFD EMS CALL CANCELLED ENROUTE 90 BFD FIRE CALL CANCELED ENROUTE 47 BFD CANCELLED ENROUTE MUTUAL/AUTOMATIC AID STRUCTURE FIRE 12 BFD CHECK ON PERMITTED BURN 7 BFD OUTSIDE SMOKE OR ODOR INVESTIGATION 35 BFD MASTER/SUPERVISED BOX WATER FLOW 14 BFD MASTER/SUPERVISED BOX PULLS/SMOKES 182 BFD MASTER/SUPERVISED BOX TAMPER OR TROUBLE 26 BFD FALSE ALARM MASTER/SUPERVISED BOX SYSTEM MALFUNCTION 18 BFD FALSE CALL-GOOD INTENT 68 BFD REPORTED FIRE UNFOUNDED 3 BFD PULLS/SMOKE DETECTOR ACTIVATION RESIDENTIAL 54 BFD RESIDENTIAL ALARM MALFUNCTION 90 ANIMAL RESCUE 1 BFD CITIZEN COMPLAINT 8 TOTAL 5395

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Apparatus Responses by Call Incident Reason

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Structure Fire Jurisdiction Response Run Card For Fires in Downtown Biddeford Jurisdiction All Dist. Except 1, 2, 4, 5, 5b, 18b Level 2 Staging Saco

Jun-15 Biddeford Biddeford Central Alarm Dispatched to the Scene Pre-Arrival Anticipated Function Central Coverage Station

Biddeford Engine Fire Attack

Biddeford Engine Sustained Water Supply

Saco Engine Fire Attack Supt/2nd attack line None Aerial Ops/Rescue/ Ventilation to assist fire Biddeford Truck attack/Search Still Alarm Biddeford Primary Ambulance Driver 2 in 2 out / tech fire attack

Biddeford Eng Station 2 Hydrant Assist Valve/Water Supply/fire attack Manpower (On Deck Crew,duties as needed, RIC back Saco Rescue up)

GMFD Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab

OOB Engine RIC

Biddeford Reserve Engine Fire Attack Support Arundel Engine

BFD Special Hazards Rescue Fire Attack Support / Rehab Scarborough Engine

Saco Camp Ellis Engine Fire Attack Support Scarborough Rescue Arundel Engine Kennebunk

Working Fire Saco Ladder 1 Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Scarborough Ladder Rescue 1 Alarm st Desk Box Rehab Unit from OOB

Arundel Fire Attack Support K-Port Quint

Scarborough Engine Fire Attack Support Kennebunk Engine Arundel Engine Old Orchard Beach Kennebunk 2nd Alarm Scarborough Ladder Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Tower Rescue

Scarborough Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Kennebunk Rescue

K-Port Quint Fire Attack Support Alfred Engine

Kennebunk Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Kennebunk Ladder

Old Orchard Beach Tower Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Alfred Rescue Arundel Engine

3rd Alarm 3rd Kennebunk Kennebunk Engine Fire Attack Support GMFD Engine Rescue

York County EMA Command 1

Alfred Engine Fire Attack Support Sanford Engine Arundel Engine Kennebunk Alfred Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Wells Engine Rescue

4th Alarm Kennebunk Ladder Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Sanford Ladder

GMFD Engine Fire Attack Support Wells Rescue

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Structure Fire Non-Water District Response Run Card

Biddeford District 4 No Hydrants Outer Guinea Rd / Oak Ridge Rd / outer Pool Rd Level 2 Staging Saco Fires

Biddeford Biddeford Dispatched to the Central Alarm Scene Pre-Arrival Anticipated Function Central Coverage Station

Biddeford Engine Fire Attack

Biddeford Engine Sustained Water Supply Biddeford Primary Ambulance Driver 2 in 2 out / tech fire attack None Aerial Ops/Rescue/ Ventilation to assist fire Still Alarm Biddeford Truck attack/Search

GMFD Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab

K-Port Tanker Water Supply

K-Port Quint Water Supply

Manpower, (on Deck Crew,duties as needed, back up Saco Rescue RIC)

Biddeford Station 2 Engine Water Supply/ Hydrant Assist Valve/ Fire Attack

Saco Engine 1 Water supply

OOB Engine RIC

Saco Engine Fire Attack Support BFD Special Hazards Kennebunk Rescue Fire Attack Support / Rehab Scarborough Engine Rescue

North Saco Engine Fire Attack Support Scarborough Rescue Arundel Engine

Biddeford Reserve Engine Fire Attack Support Arundel Engine Desk Box 1 st Alarm Alarm st 1

Working Fire Rehab Unit from OOB

Old Orchard Beach Arundel Engine Fire Attack Support Engine Arundel Engine Kennebunk Scarborough Engine Fire Attack Support Kennebunk Rescue Rescue

2nd Alarm Scarborough Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Scarborough Engine

Old Orchard Beach Engine Fire Attack Support Alfred Rescue Arundel Engine Kennebunk Kennebunk Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Kennebunk Engine Rescue

Scarborough Engine Fire Attack Support GMFD Engine 3rd Alarm 3rd York County EMA Command 1

Kennebunk Engine Fire Attack Support Alfred Engine Arundel Engine Kennebunk GMFD Engine Fire Attack Support Sanford Engine Rescue

4th Alarm Alfred Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Wells Rescue

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High Hazard Structure Fire Response Run Card

High Hazard Box/ DIST 12 Main Street Large Buildings with High Fire Load or Rescue Potential Level 2 Staging For Fires in Saco

Biddeford

Alarm Dispatched to the Scene Pre-Arrival Anticipated Function Central Coverage Central Station

Biddeford Engine Fire Attack

Biddeford Engine Sustained Water Supply Biddeford Primary Ambulance Driver 2 in 2 out / tech fire attack

Saco Engine Fire Attack Support None Aerial Ops/Rescue/ Ventilation to assist fire Biddeford Truck attack/Search

Still Alarm Saco Ladder Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation

Biddeford Station 2 Engine Fire Attack Support/ hydrant assist valve Manpower, (on Deck crew, duties as needed, back up Saco Rescue RIC)

GMFD Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab

OOB Engine RIC

Scarborough Rehab Unit from OOB Rescue Arundel Engine

Saco Camp Ellis Engine Fire Support Arundel Engine Kennebunk Rescue

Box BFD Special Hazards Rescue Fire Attack Support Scarborough Ladder

1st Alarm Desk Biddeford Reserve Engine Fire Attack Support Scarborough Engine

Arundel Engine Fire Attack Support K-Port Engine Arundel Engine

Scarborough Ladder Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Kennebunk Ladder Kennebunk Rescue

2nd Alarm Scarborough Engine Fire Attack Support Kennebunk Rescue

Scarborough Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Kennebunk Engine

K-Port Quint Fire Attack Support

Old Orchard Beach Tower Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation

Kennebunk Engine Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Wells Engine

K-Port Engine Fire Attack Support Wells Ladder

Kennebunk Ladder Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Alfred Engine Arundel Engine

Kennebunk Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Alfred Rescue Kennebunk Rescue

3rd Alarm 3rd G-Mills Tower Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation York County EMA Command 1

G-Mills Engine Fire Attack Support

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Alfred Engine Fire Attack Support South Portland Alfred Rescue EMS Sector - Occupant Safety - FF'er Rehab Ladder Arundel Engine

South Portland Sanford Ladder Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Engine Kennebunk Rescue

Wells Engine Fire Attack Support Wells Rescue

4th Alarm Wells Ladder Aerial Operations Rescue/Ventilation Buxton Engine

Sanford Engine Fire Attack Support

Mass Causality Incident Response Run Card

Dist. 1,2,&,4, Dist. 5 Dist. 18B& 18 All Others 1 Biddeford Biddeford Biddeford Biddeford 2 Biddeford Biddeford Biddeford Biddeford 3 K-Port Saco Arundel Saco Level 1 4 Saco Goodwin Mills Saco Saco 5 Saco Saco Saco Arundel 6 Arundel Arundel Kennebunk OOB Biddeford Squad 12 Biddeford Squad 12 Biddeford Squad 12 Biddeford Squad 12 7 OOB Kennebunk OOB Goodwin Mills 8 Kennebunk OOB Goodwin Mills Scarborough 9 Goodwin Mills Scarborough Scarborough K-Port 10 Scarborough K-Port K-Port Kennebunk Level 2 11 Kennebunk Kennebunk Kennebunk Scarborough

12 Scarborough Scarborough Scarborough Kennebunk

County MCI unit @ County MCI unit @ County MCI unit @ OOB County MCI unit @ OOB FD OOB FD FD OOB FD Scarborough Squad Scarborough Squad Scarborough Squad Scarborough Squad 13 Buxton Buxton Buxton Buxton

14 Alfred Alfred Alfred Alfred Level 3 15 Sanford Waterboro Sanford Sanford

16 Wells Sanford Wells Wells

17 South Portland Wells South Portland South Portland 18 Waterboro South Portland Waterboro Waterboro Kennebunk 102 Kennebunk 102 Kennebunk 102 Kennebunk 102 19 Portland Portland Portland Portland Level 4 20 Westbrook Westbrook Westbrook Westbrook 21 Northeast Northeast Northeast Northeast 22 Northeast Northeast Northeast Northeast 23 Northeast Northeast Northeast Northeast 24 Northeast Northeast Northeast Northeast Portland Rescue 1 Portland Rescue 1 Portland Rescue 1 Portland Rescue 1

Level 1: 01-10 patients 6 Ambulances & 1 Heavy Rescue

Level 2: 11-15 patients 6 Ambulances & 1 Heavy Rescue in addition to Level 1 response

Level 3: 16-20 patients 6 Ambulances & 1 Heavy Rescue in addition to Level 1,2 responses

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Level 4: 21-up patients 6 Ambulances & 1 Heavy Rescue in addition to Level 1,2,3 responses

Level 1 Central Station Coverage Kennebunk Ambulance, Arundel Engine, GRocks Quint Level 2 Central Station Coverage Alfred Ambulance, Arundel Engine, GRocks Quint Level 3 Central Station Coverage Westbrook Ambulance, Arundel Engine, GRocks Quit Level 4 Central Station Coverage Gorham Ambulance, Arundel Engine, GRocks Quint

When advised by fire personnel, either the number of injuries, or level response needed, you must follow guidelines below and then choose appropriate ambulances from above table.

Each MCI Level category requires a heavy rescue, which is grayed on the above chart. If just using the chart to find the nearest rescue for routine mutual aid, do not use the heavy rescues.

Travel Time Discussion

Travel time within the City of Biddeford is fairly constant. Streets are laid out in a uniform manner, well maintained, with most signal lights incorporating the use of traffic signal preemption technology. The topography is essentially flat and weather can be a factor in response times. The primary constraints for travel time are traffic patterns, barriers to access, and the growing distance between the staffed fire station and location demanding service. Traffic preemption helps but is not consistent for all intersections and areas of congestion around school sites, during peak commute times and after special events are the type of activities that negatively impact response speeds. Access is of concern as more development uses gates, fencing and other security measures. Also, high density development creates narrower streets, which adds to more people and less available parking, will cause people to park in unauthorized areas, impacting response times for large fire apparatus. As the development area grows to the east, travel times from existing staffed fire station will get longer until new fire stations can be built and staffed. Future growth that cannot be matched with sufficient travel time coverage may require alternative deployment solutions or different service level performance measurements.

The goal of our department should be to provide a response time of 4 minutes 90% of the time. This is the time from dispatch notification until apparatus arrival at the scene. Additionally, we should strive for a complete effective firefighting force to get on the scene in 10 minutes 90% of the time.

In 2018 we arrived on scene within 4 minutes from notification 69% of the time.

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Below you will see the 2018 emergency calls laid out on a city map with colored dots representing response time from time of notification to arrival. In addition to this presented time, 1-2 minutes should be added to each time to represent the time it takes dispatch to receive and process the call before the FD is notified.

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The highest response times are to our residents that live in our coastal districts. Our average coastal response time is 12-14 minutes. The map below represents estimated response times if there would be an additional staffed fire station located near UNE. This location was picked because of its effective location to serve the coastal areas as well as provide coverage to in town locations.

The first recommended staffing step that would be required to staff a coastal station would be to have on duty total FD staffing of a minimum staffing of 11 personnel. This would allow a crew of three to staff a piece of fire apparatus and cross staff a third ambulance. This staffing level does leave concern though, when the ambulance is on a call, the fire apparatus will now only have one person assigned to it. The goal would be to have 4-5 personnel at this station leading to a total on duty FD minimum staff of 13. This staffing would not only serve decreased coastal responses, it would also improve all around firefighter safety, more properly staffed current apparatus, and allow for quicker more effective structure fire response to try and meet the NFPA recommendations.

On average a staffed coastal station would reduce coastal responses by 6-8 minutes.

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